After learning of the issue of building a new County Courthouse during my campaign for Grafton County Commissioner, District 2, and attending most, if not all, of the Grafton County Commissioners’ Meetings every Tuesday morning since last June, I learned today that the County Courthouse Building Committee is refining its costs for the building of a new courthouse to replace the 52-year-young Grafton County Courthouse we presently support in North Haverhill, NH.
This is the cost sheet presented today to the the Grafton County Courthouse Building Committee by the architectural firm of Lavallee Brensinger which brings the Danson design (done many years ago) from 78 thousand square feet down to approximately 58 thousand square feet, and also brings the present price range down to somewhere between $33 Million to $35 Million, plus interest to be attached to the tax bills of Grafton County taxpayers.
I think the Grafton County Courthouse Building Committee should further refine ways to cut costs to the taxpayers during these high inflationary times, and especially with local school board budgets and local town budgets being decided.
Overall, ending in December, 2024, Grafton County spent $17.2 Million in Federal ARPA monies for 92 countywide projects with 11 still open. (Grafton County Executive Board Meeting, 1/27/25). This expenditure of money has added to our present and growing Federal Debt amounting approximately $37 Trillion…an astounding amount of money costing each American taxpayer, including Grafton County taxpayers, over $200,000.00. Unbelievable!?!? One way to visualize $1 Trillion dollars is to lay dollar bills end-to-end stretching from the earth to the sun. Another way to visualize $1 Trillion dollars is to visualize a military jet flying at the speed of sound, reeling out a roll of dollar bills behind it, 14 years before it reeled out $1 Trillion dollar bills. (Google). We, as American taxpayers, owe approximately $37 Trillion dollars in Federal Debt paid for by us, our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, our great-great-grandchildren, etc., seemingly, endless!
At the Grafton County Commissioners’ Meeting of November 19, 2024, $761 thousand dollars were approved to hire an architect ($214,645.00) and cover additional costs amounting to a 15% contingency fee and a geotechnical site survey.
Maybe, consideration should focus on just re-designing and rebuilding the present elevator which seems to be the major cause of concern?!
Further, I think we can save approximately $800,000.00 for the building of the ‘Prisoner Tunnel’ by enlisting the services of “El Chapo,” the convicted Mexican drug lord, who is serving a life sentence in the ADX Florence prison in Colorado.(Google). He’s used to building tunnels under the US border from Mexico to Texas, and from Mexico to California! We can provide the security and room and board in our new jail, and he can provide the pick and shovels, and assemble his own crew!!
[click to enlarge graphic]
Nick De Mayo, Sugar Hill, NH